The Latest: Praljak lawyer doesn't know how he got poison

A Bosnian Croat woman lights a candle in memory of Slobodan Praljak, in the southern Bosnian town of Mostar 140 kms south of Sarajevo, Thursday, Nov. 30, 2017. Praljak, a former Bosnian Croatian general died shortly after swallowing liquid he said was poison during an appeals hearing at a United Nations war crimes tribunal. The 72-year-old stunned the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia on Wednesday when he gulped down liquid from a small bottle seconds after a U.N. appeals judge had confirmed a 20-year sentence against him. (AP Photo/Amel Emric)

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The Latest on the death of a former Bosnian Croatian general who died shortly after swallowing liquid he said was poison during an appeals hearing at a United Nations war crimes tribunal. (all times local):

4:40 p.m.

A lawyer for an ex-Croatian general who dramatically took his own life at a U.N. war crimes court, says she doesn't know how he brought in fatal liquid and didn't see him take it.

Nika Pinter told Croatia's state TV on Thursday that she only spoke to Slobodan Praljak on the phone before seeing him inside the courtroom where he took what he said was poison moments after judges upheld his 20-year-sentence.

Pinter said that security at the court is "really strict and I can't see how it could have happened."

Pinter said that defendants are brought into court through a special entrance and held separate from one other. She said that security is also strict in the detention unit.

___

4:35 p.m.

At least two opposition Croatian lawmakers have received death threats for refusing to attend a minute of silence in Parliament for a former general who took his own life in a courtroom at the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal.

Former Croatian Foreign Minister Vesna Pusic and Goran Richembergh were targeted in Facebook threats after the assembly held a minute of silence on Thursday for Slobodan Praljak.

Praljak drank a liquid containing a deadly chemical shortly after his 20-year war crimes sentence was confirmed by judges at a U.N. tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands on Wednesday.

Richembergh says he thought it was inappropriate to honor a convicted war criminal in Croatia's parliament. Pusic says the conviction is a result of wrong Croatian politics in the 1990s when leaders of the time tried to divide Bosnia.

___

3:15 p.m.

A lawyer for an ex-Croatian general who took his own life in a courtroom at the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal says she didn't see it coming.

Slobodan Praljak's lawyer Nika Pinter is quoted by the Hina news agency Thursday as saying "it never occurred to me that he could do something like that."

Pinter describes Praljak as "an honorable man who could not live with the war crimes conviction and leave that courtroom handcuffed."

Croatia's state TV has reported that Pinter has been questioned by police in The Netherlands who have launched an investigation into how Praljak got hold of the fatal liquid he gulped after U.N. judges upheld a 20-year sentence against him and five other former Bosnian Croat political and military leaders.

Bosnian Croat people, gather to light candles and pray for Gen. Slobodan Praljak, in southern Bosnian town of Mostar 140 kms south of Sarajevo, on Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2017. Praljak yelled, "I am not a war criminal!" and appeared to drink from a small bottle, seconds after judges reconfirmed his 20-year prison sentence for involvement in a campaign to drive Muslims out of a would-be Bosnian Croat ministate in Bosnia in the early 1990s. Croatia's state TV says Praljak who claimed to have taken poison just after his 20-year sentence was upheld by appeals judges at a U.N. war crimes tribunal, has died. (AP Photo/Amel Emric)

___

12:30 p.m.

Hundreds of Bosnian Croats have been lighting candles in public squares in cities around the country in honor of Slobodan Praljak, the general who drank poison moments after a U.N judge confirmed his 20-year war crimes sentence, and later died.

Praljak's photos were plastered Thursday in Croat-dominated cities around Bosnia, where the police presence was increased to prevent incidents.

"Praljak was a legend for us. ... He will live forever in our heats," said Ivica Gavric, who was a member of the Bosnian Croat forces during the country's 1992-95 war.

Meanwhile, the European Union has called on the Balkan leaders to respect the rulings of the U.N war crimes court and work to achieve reconciliation and good relations.

"Delivering justice and fighting impunity are fundamental principles," the EU delegation in Bosnia said in a statement Thursday.

___

11:45 a.m.

Croatia's president says the nation has been "deeply struck in the heart" by the death of an ex-Croat general who died shortly after claiming to have drunk poison as the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal convicted him of war crimes during Bosnia's 1992-95 war.

Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic said in an address Thursday that Slobodan Praljak "would rather take his own life than live as a convict for the acts he firmly believed he hadn't committed."

Grabar Kitarovic has denounced the court ruling which linked Croatia's wartime leadership with a plan to create a Croat mini-state in Bosnia. Grabar Kitarovic says both Croatia and Bosnia were victims of an "aggression" from Serbia.

___

11:10 a.m.

A Dutch prosecutor has told The Associated Press that preliminary tests show that a container from which a Croat war criminal drank shortly before dying contained a deadly chemical.

Prosecutor Marilyn Fikenscher said in a telephone interview Thursday that, "there was a preliminary test of the substance in the container and all I can say for now is that there was a chemical substance in that container that can cause death."

Slobodan Praljak stunned the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia on Wednesday when he gulped down liquid from a small bottle seconds after a U.N. appeals judge had confirmed a 20-year sentence against him.

In this photo provided by the ICTY on Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2017, Slobodan Praljak brings a bottle to his lips, during a Yugoslav War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands. Praljak yelled, "I am not a war criminal!" and appeared to drink from a small bottle, seconds after judges reconfirmed his 20-year prison sentence for involvement in a campaign to drive Muslims out of a would-be Bosnian Croat ministate in Bosnia in the early 1990s. (ICTY via AP)

Praljak was convicted in 2013 of crimes including murder, persecution and deportation for his role in a plan to carve out a Bosnian Croat ministate in Bosnia in the early 1990s.

___

10:45 a.m.

Croatia's prime minister says that the ex-Bosnian Croat military commander who dramatically took his own life at the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal wanted to send a message to the U.N. court that the verdict against him was unjust.

Andrej Plenkovic said at the start of the Croatian government session on Thursday that former general Slobodan Praljak was "obviously shaken by the possibility he would be convicted" of war crimes during Bosnia's 1992-95 war.

Praljak on Wednesday drank from a small bottle as U.N. judges upheld his conviction. Praljak said he had taken poison and later died in a hospital in The Hague, Netherlands.

Croatian lawmakers Thursday held a moment of silence for Praljak and the war victims, saying "let the death of general Praljak be the last act of the war."

___

10:30 a.m.

Dutch prosecutors say that an autopsy will be carried out soon on a former Bosnian Croatian general who died shortly after swallowing liquid he said was poison during an appeals hearing at a United Nations war crimes tribunal.

Frans Zonneveld of the Public Prosecution Service in The Hague said Thursday it wasn't clear exactly when the autopsy will take place on Slobodan Praljak.

The 72-year-old stunned the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia on Wednesday when he gulped down liquid from a small bottle seconds after a U.N. appeals judge had confirmed a 20-year sentence against him.

Praljak was convicted in 2013 of crimes including murder, persecution and deportation for his role in a plan to carve out a Bosnian Croat ministate in Bosnia in the early 1990s.

___

This story corrects the spelling of the first name of lawyer Nika Pinter.

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.